1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dust-collecting apparatus generally known as a dustpan, and more particularly to a dustpan that features a scalloped edge on the lip of the dustpan.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most people in the course of their life have occasion to sweep the floor using a broom. Typically a person uses a broom to sweep dust or other debris from the various parts of a room to a central location. At this point the swept debris is often further swept into a dustpan so that it may be picked up and disposed of in a garbage can or other receptacle. One problem with using a dustpan is that when the debris has been swept into the dustpan, there is often a line of debris remaining on the floor along the lip of the dustpan. A variety of improved dustpans and other scoop-like devices have been proposed, but none have satisfactorily addressed this problem.
U.S. Design Patent No. 345,238, issued Mar. 15, 1994 to Enzo Berti, shows an ornamental design for a dustpan featuring a straight lip that is beveled. U.S. Design Patent No. 347,497, issued May 31, 1994 to Ralph VanSkiver, depicts an ornamental design for a litter scoop that also has a straight lip that is beveled. U.S. Design Patent No. 466,262, issued Nov. 26, 2002 to Andre Chemtob, portrays an ornamental design for a dustpan where the lip of the dustpan curves downward.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0008392, published Jan. 24, 2002, describes an animal refuse shovel that features a straight, protruding leading edge. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0088075, published Jul. 11, 2002, shows a standup dustpan where the lip of the dustpan is curved outwards. U.S. Pat. No. 2,563,223, issued Aug. 7, 1951 to Carl M. Dreher, describes a grocer's scoop where the leading edge of the scoop is curved inwards.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,917,333, issued Nov. 4, 1975 to Donald J. Grattan, discloses a sanitary scoop where one edge of the scoop is serrated. The sanitary scoop is foldable and designed so that a person's hand may push the serrated edge along a surface to scoop up animal waste.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,565, issued Jul. 5, 1994 to Yasuhiro Suzuki, describes a device for collecting dust, water or the like. The device features a downward sloping blade with a straight edge. U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,790, issued Dec. 12, 1995 to Roger Demarais, demonstrates a collapsible dustpan with a dirt retaining rib along the front edge, or lip. The dirt retaining rib is straight rather than curved. U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,399, issued Apr. 14, 1998 to Melanie Mitchell, shows a cat litter scoop with a beveled scraping edge. U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,549, issued May 22, 2001 to Marcia A. Brownell, shows a dual action scooper for clumping and non-clumping cat litter. The leading edge is V-shaped but is not scalloped.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,181, issued May 29, 2001 to Dawn L. Onnuffer, discloses a comb for removing debris on carpet that features a plurality of teeth on the distal end. U.S. Pat. No. 6,249,930, issued Jun. 26, 2001 to David D. Noggle, describes a dustpan with a flexibly movable bottom wall that conforms to the floor contour. Japanese Patent No. 8-98,790, published on Apr. 16, 1996, shows a dustpan-shaped device where the leading edge has an attached rubber spatula.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a scalloped edge dustpan solving the aforementioned problems is desired.